One thing we didn't do at the time, however, was to get the proper chain for it. Some folks say the regular across-the-grain cross-cut chain can simply be filed at a different angle to rip boards with the grain. That proved not to be as easy as promised. This time he bought a proper ripping chain for the job. The difference is in the angle of the cutting teeth. A regular chain is filed at a 35-degree angle, a ripping chain is filed to 10 degrees. This makes a huge difference in the ease of cutting, not to mention wear-and-tear on the saw.

Wedges in the cut keep the saw from binding.

One problem is that Dan only has a 20-inch saw, while the logs are wider than 20 inches. That has meant two cuts per side, flipping the log to get both cuts.

The guide that came with the mini-mill isn't long enough for our logs, so Dan has to stop and move the pieces to finish the cut.

First two done.

He says the ripping chain makes all the difference in the world, but also that it would be easier to do these on the sawmill like the posts. If only it were longer. Hmmmm...

32 comments:

He has done a great job there, never come across an attachment like that, I wonder if they have them in the UK, we have some big trees to come down it would be great to cut beams out of them for the new alpaca house

I'm the photographer! Those are the kind of trees that have been falling randomly. This one had ants living in the base of the tree so that it was actually quite weak and would likely have gone over on it's own in the near future. It's worrisome to take them down ourselves, but worse to never know where one randomly might drop and on what!

Awesome! I especially like the step with the goats. I wouldn't thought of doing that step!

I never knew there was such a thing as a ripping chain but I know from experience how hard it is to use a crosscut chain to rip. I was trying to cut some chunks of woods into plant stands and darn if I could cut in a straight line no matter how hard I tried.

All my trees that are easily accessible this year in the main part of our lawn leafed out so I'm going to have to wait another year for an excuse to buy a mini-mill for myself.

sorry Leigh - i hit publish before proof-reading and there were a ton of errors. but anyway what i was going to say is that i can't wait to show this post to jambaloney as we have the chainsaw mill thingy but just haven't used it yet. jambaloney will be super impressed with lumberjack Dan's skills....as am i!

So exciting to see that the answer to wanting a new barn was there all along! Does the wood need any dry time? Seems some folks do and some don't. Either way, awesome job, and you two make it look easy!

We built our cabin and shed (we were told it's not a 'barn' without livestock! :) ) with green lumber - the nails go in easily and once the wood dries, they're in there permanently. That was some excellent precision tree-felling that Dan did!

Mark has been milling his own lumber from our trees since right after we bought our land. He's built bee hives and all of our chicken coops. It's so rewarding!! And yes...the ripping chains are a must have!! (Our goats will strip the bark off the lines in an hour- no draw knife needed)

aart, I asked Dan because he's been the one researching that very thing. He says there are a number of ways they deal with that: certain kinds of joints, bolts, carriage screws, even tightening the whole thing with a come-along before putting it together.

A very interesting book is Eric Sloane's a Reverence For Wood. In it he shows what part of the log that the lumber comes from, and how it effects it's shape when it shrinks. Also how to straighten a warped board. He also says that the reason these things happen is because of uneven drying.

Dan also said that when the logs are green, the pegs (tree nails) are made of seasoned wood. That way the post will shrink to the peg and form an extremely tight bond.

I admit I don't exactly understand all this. One of our homemade posts for our kitchen remodel twisted a bit after it dried, but he drilled another hole and added another peg so it's still doing it's job.

5 Acres & A Dream. The dream has always been to live close to the land. The 5 acres came in 2009, when my husband Dan and I bought a neglected 1920s-built bungalow on 5 acres. The goal is simpler, sustainable, more self-reliant living, and a return to agrarian values.

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